A study on inshore fishermen's attitudes towards safety and safety practices in Dungun

Abstract

The fishery remains a dangerous industry despite improvements in safety. A 30- item safety attitudes and practices questionnaire was developed, using items from published research combined with some original items. The questionnaire was distributed to fishermen who completed the responses. A total of 356 questionnaires were collected. Survey is conducted to obtain more information and to support the questionnaire. This study indicates the knowledge level of safety and the safety attitudes of the fishermen in Dungun, Terengganu. It was also found that the safety attitude and practices of fishermen had influence on the injuries and accidents among fishermen. The findings showed that most of the subjects do not face serious injuries at work and they tend to ignore the minor injuries. On the other hand, data for safety attitudes and practices revealed that most of the fishermen had positive safety attitudes and were knowledgeable in basic safety knowledge from experience. Interestingly enough, the results indicated that a high number of fishermen showed their interest in safety training. Finally, some recommendations that would help to improve the fishermen's safety were presented.